Mississippi: Pipefitter’s Injuries From 25-Foot Fall From Tree Not Compensable

In a divided decision, the Court of Appeals of Mississippi held that a pipefitter, who sustained severe injuries when he fell some 25 feet from the top of a gum tree, was engaged in inappropriate horseplay at the time of the injury, such that the injury did not arise out of and in the course of his employment. Relying upon the four-point “Larson test” [see Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 23.01, et seq.], the majority said the worker’s actions were a sufficient deviation from the employment to deny compensation. None of the worker’s duties involved climbing trees. Other workers told him to come down. Instead of heeding the advice of his co-workers, evidence suggested the worker began to shake the tree vigorously, causing it to break, resulting in his fall.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is the co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance.

See Haney v. Fabricated Pipe, Inc., 2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 722 (Nov. 8, 2016)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 23.01.

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law

 For a more detailed discussion of the case, see